BOSTON — One left the North Side to return to the Bronx. The other left the South Side for a new adventure in Boston. Aroldis Chapman and Chris Sale, the most dominant closer and the most electrifying starter in Chicago, are headliners in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, and their fortunes help explain Boston’s edge in the standings.
Chapman lost his closer’s job on Saturday, when Yankees Manager Joe Girardi told Chapman that he would use him earlier in games as a way to shake his alarming slump. Sale took the mound for the Red Sox as the major league leader in strikeouts and with a clear edge in the race for the American League Cy Young Award.